Submental island pedicled flap combination with bio-membrane for reconstructing the piercing palate defects / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the clinical outcomes of submental island pedicled flap (SIPF) combination with bio-membrane in reconstructing palate defects after maxillofacial or palatal neoplasm resection.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>There were 12 patients with squamous cell carcinoma and one patient with adenoid cystic carcinoma. The clinical stages of tumours were II in two patients, III in four patients, IV in six patients (UICC 2002), and one patient with adenoid cystic carcinoma no staged. SIPFs were designed and created, and the tissue sides of the SIPFs were covered with bio-membrane to reconstruct the oral and the nasal sides of the defects respectively. Speech and swallowing functions and opening mouth were evaluated 6 months postoperatively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All flaps survived and no serious complications occurred. Ten patients achieved normal speech, two had intelligible speech, and one was with slurred speech; Nine patients resumed a solid diet, three with a soft diet, and one on a liquid diet. Eight patients recovered normal mouth opening, four emerged minor limitation of mouth opening, and one had serious limitation of mouth opening.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>SIPF combined with bio-membrane is a safe, simple, and reliable method for reconstruction of piercing palate defect following neoplasm ablation, with satisfactory oral functions.</p>

Submental island pedicled flap for reconstruction of oral soft defects after oral cancer ablation / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effectiveness of the submental island pedicled flap (SIPF) for the repair of oral soft defects following oral cancer ablation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty consecutive patients undergoing resection of oral cancer followed by reconstruction with SIPF from February 2010 to March 2013 were reviewed. The effectiveness complications, oral function recovering and oncologic outcomes after reconstructive operation with SIPF were evaluated.SPSS software was used to analyze the data.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The dimensions of SIPF ranged from a minimum of 4 cm×6 cm to a maximum of 6 cm×15 cm. Of the 30 flaps, 28 were survival completely, one had superficial necrosis but healed with treatments, and one failed due to complete necrosis, with a survival rate of 96.7% (29/30). Operative time ranged from a minimum of 4.5 hours to a maximum of 7.5 hours, mean 6.8 hours, and hospital stay time was 11-18 days, mean 13 days. Thirteen patients (43.3%) received tracheotomy before SIPF operation. Surgical or postoperative complications included temporary marginal mandibular never palsy in one case, neck hematoma in one case, hydrops in the mandibular region in 7 cases, and neck infectionin in 2 cases. Postoperative functional results showed mouth opening was normal in 23 patients, light limitation of mouth opening in 6 cases and obvious limitation of mouth opening in one case. The speech function was re-obtained satisfactorily in 29 patients, but one case with poor speech function. Most patients showed normal swallowing function, of them 26 patients on a full oral diet, 3 patients on a soft diet and one patient on a liquid diet only. Postoperative follow-up time was for 6-19 months (median 13 months), and 4 patients had local recurrence and 2 patients had cervical lymph node metastases.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The SIPF is safe, reliable and simple for the reconstruction of middle-small oral soft defects following resection of early-stage oral cancer.</p>